2021-2022

Richard M. Wooten, P.G.

Rick has over 40 years of experience in applied geology in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, and applied geologic research in the Piedmont, and Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in geology at the University of Georgia in 1973 and 1980. Rick recently retired from the North Carolina Geological Survey where he was the Senior Geologist for Geohazards and Engineering Geology from 1990 to 2021. His previous work includes mapping geologic resources and conditions for land-use planning, landslide investigations and applied geotechnical geology for the USDA-Forest Service on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State from 1980 to 1990. His work with the North Carolina Geological Survey includes the scientific regulatory review and field investigations for a low-level radioactive waste disposal project, and bedrock geologic mapping in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountains. Since 2003 his main focus has been on landslide hazard mapping and research, and responding to landslide events North Carolina Blue Ridge. He has a special interest in the relationships of ductile and brittle bedrock structures with geomorphology and landslides processes, and communicating landslide hazards information with stakeholders.

NOTE: Rick will not begin to schedule talks until the 2021 Jahns lecturer, Cheryl Hapke, has completed her tour. We'll keep you updated when Rick is ready to begin scheduling! 

His topics include:

    • Debris Flows, Big Slow Movers, and Rockslides: Assembling the Geospatial Legacy of Landslides using Lidar, Drones and Boots on the Ground
    • The Building and Upkeep of a Landslide Hazards Program: The Confluence (Collision?) of Science, History, Politics, and Public Opinion – A Blue Ridge Perspective on a National Challenge
    • Responding to Landslide Emergencies: Communicating with Stakeholders and the Feedback Loop of Preparation, Response, Analysis and Lessons Learned
    • Going Against the Grain: Linking Brittle Cross-Structures with Landslides, Hydrogeology, and Earthquakes in the North Carolina Blue Ridge and Piedmont
    • 2018-2020: Two Years, Eight Storms, 320+ landslides, and an Earthquake (What does it mean, and what do we do now?)